i’m surprised when you listen —
when threads of our conversation
weave into the fabric of our day
and
i’m surprised
when your cleverness means
my own won’t go unnoticed
or argued away
and
there’s a calmness
in being understood
implicitly,
a gentle comfort
in never spending energy
defending myself
against the devil’s advocacy
of every single thing
contradictory to me —
and i wonder if you can hear it
when i whisper.